Brianne Todd is an Assistant Professor of Central Asian Studies at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, where her areas of expertise include transnational threats and regional security issues in Central Asia, Russia, and the Caucasus. Before joining the NESA Center in January 2010, she worked at the Center for Political-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute, where she analyzed U.S. and foreign defense, intelligence, and homeland security and counterterrorism policies; and the Eurasian Strategy Project, where she focused on Eurasian political and security issues. Additionally, she previously worked for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC, where she was awarded the Franklin Award (2004), and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia (2003).

In addition to developing and facilitating the NESA Center’s programs in and with the countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), Professor Todd is a regular lecturer for the Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management (DISAM) at Wright-Patterson AFB, the US Air Force Special Operations School at Hurlburt Field, and the Leader Development and Education for Sustained Peace Program (LDESP).

Professor Todd holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Russian Language & Literature, and Russian & East European Studies from the University of Notre Dame (2004, cum laude) and a Master of Arts degree in Eurasian, Russian & East European Studies from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (2009). She is currently completing her doctorate (Ph.D.) in the School of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Area of Interest

Transnational Threats

Central Asian Regional Security

Education

M.A., Eurasian, Russian & Eastern European Studies, Georgetown University

B.A., Political Science, University of Notre Dame